What Does the GEICO Acronym Stand For?

GEICO stands for the Government Employees Insurance Company, and when it was founded in 1936 by Leo and Lillian Goodwin. At the time, their mission was to provide auto insurance to – as you might have guessed – government employees. They did this because they were looking for a discrete group of folks with particular needs. Because it was the height of the Great Depression, their marketing had to be specifically targeted to a group, and they choose government workers.

Today, GEICO writes insurance for just about anyone, but with their personal agents they still maintain that small-company feel. GEICO spends over a billion dollars a year on advertising and other large companies like Progressive, Allstate, and Nationwide aren’t far behind. GEICO’s large marketing budget has resulted in significant year over year growth for the company, which spells savings for consumers. The more people that GEICO insures, the less it costs them to insure new customers.